A popular confectionery treat among children and adults is a frozen portion of ice cream mounted on a stick such as a POPSICLE.RTM. treat. As is well known, these frozen treats melt once removed from the freezer and while being consumed. This melting results in drippings which may get on the hands or clothes, or which may drip on the surrounding areas such as furniture or floors.
This problem is especially prevalent when frozen confections are fed to small children. Small children may not have the awareness or coordination to keep the treats upright and to avoid making a mess. Consequently, there is a need for a device for helping adults and especially children to enjoy frozen treats while avoiding a mess on the person or the surrounding area. Many people also prefer that these drippings be collected so that they may be later sipped by the user.
Prior approaches to these problems have included designs such as the one by Wang in U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,998. Wang illustrates a trough-like dish mounted on a base with a slot for holding a frozen confection. The drippings from the frozen confection are collected by apertures in the dish and can be sipped from a reservoir in the base using a straw. Wang's design is a free-standing pedestal which must be kept upright. The stand may work for some adults, but could be easily knocked over by a young child.
Other designs are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,224,646; 2,632,708 and 2,766,123. These designs provide some protection from dripping and collect the melted treat for later consumption; however, these designs are not necessarily designed for small children and must also be held upright by the user.
Accordingly, there is a need for a frozen confection holder which is conducive for use by small children. It is desirable that the device minimize the need that the holder keep the holder upright and also protects the user and the surroundings from the melted drippings while collecting the drippings for future consumption.